Two years on from first capturing the world with the glistening, bedroom-produced soundscapes of his debut, 2011’s The Year of Hibernation, Youth Lagoon makes a return with Wondrous Bughouse, bolstered with newfound power.
Chiefly thanks to the collaboration between Trevor Powers, the 22-year-old Boise, Idaho native behind Youth Lagoon, and producer Ben Allen (who worked with Animal Collective on last year’s Centipede HZ).
The influence of working with a big producer is clear and effectively sees Youth Lagoon step out of a lo-fi shell and into the field of full-fledged production. Cosmetic changes aside, the fragile innocence still rings in Powers’ adolescent voice and the cosmic wonder of his aural projections is still not only preserved, but possibly more magical than ever before.
The record starts with the haunting instrumental, “Through Mind And Back”. It serves as a prelude and an insight into Powers’ state of mind at the time of recording the album. It’s a strangely ominous start to proceedings and gives off an unsettlingly suspenseful first impression.
This gloomy atmosphere is immediately broken when “Mute” erupts into its triumphant, upbeat glory. Comprised of multiple sections, the song builds with an extended guitar solo and booming cymbal-drenched drums before eventually arrives at its cathartic destination.
“Attic Doctor”, “Sleep Paralysis” and “Pelican Man” venture into the realms of psychedelia, classed by dizzying circus melodies and echoed, tripped vocals.
“The Bath” is one of the slower tracks on the album. Powers’ muffled musings sound like they’re submerged underwater, utterly indecipherable, until the unexpected arrival of sporadic clapping sticks halfway takes the song on another, equally dreamy tangent.
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The most infectious track, lead single “Dropla”, is coated in a deceivingly sweet gloss that hides its underlying, sinister core. Masked in a catchy lullaby-like melody, it reveals the darker crevices of Powers’ conscience as he muses over mortality, life and death: “You weren’t there when I needed/I watched you going under/You’ll never die, you’ll never die”.
Youth Lagoon’s resonance, a key ability, isn’t lost in the bigger and bolder approach to production.
Instead, it allows Powers to pull people directly into the tides and currents of his mind’s eye and as such, strike emotional chords at deeper, intimate depths. He sings of “living in a 3D world” in the album’s opening line, and by the record’s close you can finally understand how that feels.
